Automatic fire-extinguisher



(N0 Model.)

`o. LHORAGK. AUTOMATIC FIRE BXTINGUISHER.

Patented Jan.23. 1883.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES L. HORACK, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

AUTOMATIC Fl RE-ExTiNcuisHER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 270,952, dated January 23, 1883.

Application tiled August 19, 1882.

T o all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES L. HoRAcK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Automatic Fire-Extinguishers, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is to construct an automatic fire-extinguisher in such a manner as to employ one or more outlets from a cup containing extinguishing-fluid, and to keep said outlets closed by a valve or cap until released by the heat of a tire, and to provide a l suitable distributer for the extinguishing-Huid Ils l i by means of one or more deiiectors combined with the discharge-nozzle.

Another object of this invention is to place and maintain a detlector so employed in a position where it would be least exposed to accidental strokes until it was actually required for deectingtheextinguishing-iuid. I therefore do not adjust the same in front ot' the outletor outlets, but arrange it in a position where it is not attached to the valve closing the outlet, and from which it is only removed to 'assume a position suitable for deflecting the extinguishing-tluidby its weight or the action of tiuid escaping through the opening or. openings in the distributing-cup or by any other agency designed and arranged to accomplish said change in position of the detlector when the same becomes necessary or desirable.

A further object of this invention is to construct the device in such a manner as to keep the cap or valve confining the extinguishinguid in position by means of a number of fusible-solder joints .or other similar devices to be broken by the heat of' a tire, and arranged in such a manner as to allow the cap or valve closing the outlet or outlets for the extinguishin g-luid to become relieved and to be removed as soon as one of said destructible joints is broken, as more fully described hereinafter.

I attain these objects in the manner illustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming part of this'specilication.

Figure 1 represents a vertical section, and Fig. 2 a side elevation, ot' aldevice constructed according to my invention. Fig. 3 is a detail drawing relating to said Figs. 1 and 2. Fig. 4 also represents a vertical section, and Fig. 5

(No model.)

| a side elevation, of a device so constructed;

and Fig'. 6, a detail drawing relating to said Figs. 4 and 5.

In Fig. 1, V represents a cap-shaped valve placed over the outside of and surrounding a discharge-nozzle or distributer, O, which is shown to have in its outside walls two circular openings,passing around the same and arranged to produce intersecting streams. order to be able to make each of the two openings O O continuous around the distributer C, I provide a stem, b, inside of the sprinklingcup C, and fastened to the same or connected with it above, between and below the perforations 0 O, using forsuch purpose, also, the arms a a. (Shown in the drawings in Fig. 1.) The outside of the distributer has at its lower end a rim, i, projecting beyond the perforated part ot the distributer. The valve V, which has a seat above and another one below the perforations, is shown to be partly balanced by or partly balancing the pressure ot' the extinguishing-fluid, although a valve fully balanced, or one not balanced at all or to any extent, by the pressure ot' the extinguishingiiuid might be used in this connection. Said valve V is made of two pieces, one, which is rin g-shaped, resting against the upper valveseat, the other, which is cap-shaped, resting against thelower valve-seat. These two pieces are screwed together, and it will readily be seen that by means of the screw-thread so employed the length of the cap can be regulated, .and thereby aclose joint upon both valve-seats can be secured. rIhe spiral spring S is attached to the casting W. conveying the extinguishingiiuid to the distributer, and rests against a shoulder on the valve V, but need not necessarily be connected with said valve.

M M are posts attached to said casting, having at their lower ends horizontal pivots pp. The horizontal bar N-a ground plan of which is represented in Fig. 3-has tapering slots J J at both ends, in which tit the pieces m and h, which are arranged to swing loosely around the pivots j) p. I insert said pieces in the slots J J, as indicated in Fig. 1, and secure them there rigidly by means ot' solder fusible at a low temperature. Through the center ot' the piece N, I then pass the screw R, which I make rest against the valve V, and use for IOO forcing the valveV to its seats. If both of the soldered joints at J J should break at the same time, the bar N, and with it the screw It,y would become detached entirely from the apparatus and would drop down, and the valve V, owing to its own weight and the action of the spring S resting against it, would be forced from its seats and would drop down sufiicientl y to allow the discharge of the extinguishingfluid through the openings O O. The notches J J are shown in Fig. 3 to be wider on top than at the bottom and wider at the extreme ends ofN than nearer the middle ot' said bar N. By making each slanting in two directions and by making the parts of m and h connected with them by solder correspond in shape with said notches, I facilitate the breaking of said joints. It frequently happens that one side ot' a hre-extinguisher is kept cool and wet by means of extinguishinghuid being discharged by a neighboring extinguisher. may eitherpreventitfrom eomingintooperation at all, or may at least delay it. By providing two or more soldered joints' at dii'erent points, as indicated, I guard to a considerable extent against this difficulty, because it will be seen that even if only one of thejoints should break the bar N, and with it the brace or screw R, will swing out of the way, and will allow the valve V to drop.

D is a ring-shaped piece, fixed temporarily above the openings O O, and is held there by the armsff, which are attached to the valve V, but not to D, which simply rests or sits on the sume. One-half of said ring-shaped piece D is shown in Fig. 2, which represents the device While in operation and after the valve V fhas dropped ofi". In the position shown in said Fig. 2, D acts as a deiiector for the extinguishing-fluid passing through the openings O O, thereby creating aspray. The surface of the deector directed toward said openings when the extinguisher is in operation is shown to be convex, although the same might be made concave, or with a straight slope, or with suitable projections, corrugations, or perforations, as mightbest serve to get a perfect distribution ofthe extinguishing-duid.

Instead of having two arms ff attached to the valve V for supporting thefdeiiector D in the position shown inFig. 1, the lower or cap-shaped part of the valve V might be provided with a ring-shaped rim reaching up to the detlector while in said position, to support it there. This rim would also protect the spiral spring S5' or the under side ot' the deflector might be extended downward, so as to rest directly upon the lower or cap shaped part of the valve V. Another way to hold the detlector D in the position shown in Fig. 1, and entirely independent of the valve V and its movements, would be to attach the same to the casting W by means of solder fusible at a low temperature, so as to have it drop at the time the valve V leaves its seat, or else to connect it with the casting W by means of mate- This' rial such as would be reached and destroyed by the action of the extinguishing-duid after the valve V had dropped. The shoulders near the lower ends of the posts M M serve to support the deector when in the position shown in Fig. 2. The spiral spring S being connected with the casting W, but not with the valve V, it will assume the position shown in Fig. 2 after the valve V has left its seat, and will thereby assist in cutting up the water before it reaches the outer deiiector, D. Ordinarily, however,it will be sutiicient to employ only the detlector D, and in this case the spring S would have to be adjusted so as to drop oft' with the valve V, a-nd would then have to be connected with said valve, and would only be made to rest on the castingVV. Havingaside opening in a discharge-nozzle and a deector, D, in the position shown in Fig. 2 will spread the water in an upward direction and over a ceiling much better than any other style of deiiector used heretofore.

While the walls of the distributer C have a recess containing the outlet or outlets, the walls ot the valve V facing the same are provided with a recess in the opposite direction. This prevents any catching ot the valve V on G while said valve V is moving downward to clear the openings O O.

Many of the details shown in this device in Figs. l, 2, and 3 might be varied. The valve V might be made ot' only one piece. The spring S might be omitted altogether; and, instead oi' using the screw R for adjusting and forcing to its seats the valve V, the screwthread in the posts M M' might be made toperform these functions, in which case the bar N could be made to rest directly upon the valve V. Finally, only one soldered joint might be used for coniining the valve and doing away with the pieces lam, N, and It. Said joint might be lnade between the valveVand the casting W, passing around the upper edge ot' said-valve V, and might be constructed water-tight. Even the posts M M could be dispensed with by making the upper rim of the valve project inward far enough at several points to make the same come to a rest on the rim r of the distributer G after the valve had dropped far enough to allow the extinguishing-fluid to be discharged through the openings O O. The defiector D would then be held in a position corresponding with that shown in Fig. 2 by said valve or cap V. While a number of' openings producing intersectingstreams seems the best means of discharging the water from the cup C, any other arrangement of outlets or a single outlet might be employed instead. A spring might be used to-assist in bringing the deliector D into the position opposite the openings O O, as shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 represents a perforated distributer, C, having a number of openings, O O, for which, however,asingleopeningmightbe substituted. A cap shaped valve, V, is forced to its seats ILO IOS

. the device.

by means of the screw R passing through lthel tapering nut which again has fastened to it the two swinging arms P P by means ofthe soldered joints J J, which correspond in shape with the outer surface of said round and tapering nut x, as shown particularly in Fig. 6, which represents a bottom view of this part of The spring S is attached to the casting W, and until a tire occurs is kept in a recess below the perforations O O. in the position shown in Fig. 4, by the vaiveVrestingon it. As soon as one of the soldered joints J J breaks, the spring S will force upward and throw off said valve V, and will at the same time assume the position shown inFig. 5, in which position it will act as a deiiector for the extinguishing fluid. In this case, again, the breaking ot' one ofthe two soldered joints J J is sufficient to allow the valve Vto be thrown off. The fusible solder generally applied to automatic extinguishers where a joint is to be broken by the heat of a tire', and where said solder in making the joint is applied in a thin lm between two metallicsurfaces, will, before it begins to fuse, very eft'ectually resist any tendency ot' the parts soldered together toseparate by sliding by each other. 0n the other hand, it does not possess sucient strength to hold together the different parts connected byit where even limited-force is applied in a. direction at or near rightanglesto such ajoint. The curved form given to the joints in this case secures strength in every direction, without, however, preventing the prompt and complete separation between brace and lever. However, as I propose to make the construction of this joint the subject of a claim in an application for a patent which I propose to submit, I do not do so here. Recesses in the walls of the distribliter O,-as well as in the walls of the valve V, are shown in a similar manner and for similar purposes as was done in Fig. 1.

A check or stop might be arranged to allow the spiral springs shown in Figs. 2 and 5 to expand only to a certain point,r thereby regulating the distance between the coils, and consequently the distribution of the water or other extinguishing-fluid, while said spring was acting as adeflector. p

l claim as new and wish to secure by Letters Patent- 1. A distributer for uids, provided with a continuous outlet fully dividing in two parts its surrounding wall or walls, said two parts being rigidly connected with each other by means of a center post, b, and arms a a, sub- 4 stantially as set forth.

2. A distributer provided with two outlets, each one ot' which divides the same horizontally, the outlets being so constructed as to produce intersecting streams, substantially1 as set forth.

3. In an automatic tire extinguisher, the

-means of a center'post, b, and arms a a, with a cap closing said outlet and arranged to be relieved by the heat of a fire, substantially as set forth. 4'. In an automatic fire extinguisher, the combination of a distributer having in its surrounding walls perforations producing intersecting streams, with a cap arranged to surround said walls until relieved by the heat ot' a fire, substantially as set forth.

5. In a distributerl for fluids, the combination of a discharge-nozzle having in its surrounding wall or walls one or more openings, with a cap arranged to surround said wall or walls, and

Y with a deector upon which the fluid is discharged, substantially as set forth.

6. In a distributer for uids, the combination cf a discharge-nozzle provided with openings constructed to produce intersecting streams, with a deector for further distributing the extinguishing-fluid, substantially as set forth.

7. In a sprinkling apparatus, the combination, with a discharge-nozzle, of a spiral spring adjusted to act as a distributer for the fluid, substantially as set forth.

In an automatic fire extinguisher, the combination, with a distributer having one or more dischargecutlets, ot' a cap preventing the escape of the extinguishing-fluid through said outlet or outlets until said Huid has been released by the heat of a tire, and a deflector a'djusted to assume a position in front of said outlet or outlets when the cap has been'released by the heat of a tire, substantially as set v forth.

9. In an automatic fire extinguisher, the combination, with a discharge nozzle, of a valve closing` its outlet until released by the heat of a tire, and a device adjusted to enter the space in front of said outlet, to act as a delector for the extinguishing-duid after the valve has left its seat, substantially as set forth.

10. In an automatic lire-extinguisher, the combination of a discharge-nozzle with a cap constructed to prevent the discharge of the cxtinguishing-fluid until relieved by the heat ot' a tire, and a device resting upon or against said cap without being attached to it, and constructed to become a deflector for the extinguishing-Huid after the same has been libererated by the lient ofa fire, substantially as set forth. l y

11. In an automatic fire-extinguisher, the combination of a distributer containing one or more perforations inv its surrounding wall or walls, and having a rim or projection, rat or near its extreme end projecting beyond said walls, with a cap closing said outlet or outlets until released by the heat ot' a re,said projectionr` being constructed to extend beyond the walls of the distributer and to maintain a space between the same and the walls of said cap while the latter is being removed from its position in front ofthe outlet or outlets, substantially as set forth.

12. In a distributer for uids, the combinaroc IIO

tion, with a discharge-nozzle,of zt cap protecting said nozzle, the Walls of the nozzle facing the surrounding walls ofthe cap, and the outer Walls of the cap facing those of the nozzle being made to recede from each other, substantially-as set forth.

13. In an automatic {ire-extinguisher, the combination, with a discharge-nozzle or distributer provided with an outlet or outlets, of a valve provided with two seating-surfaces, the construction being such that the pressure of the extinguishing-Huid is exerted upon the valve between its two seats, the length ofthe 

